Welcome Home
by Fueled By Dr. Pepper
Summary: Sometimes in the journey, you forget where you're going and you find yourself standing there surprised. A sequel to Hurt and Comfort, which is the sequel to Meltdown. Fluffy-ish ending to the longer story. 1727 words.  M for Lang.


Six days. Six days of being a stranger in someone else's home. Even that one night in the car, he was a foreigner in the wilderness of the night. It was time to find a permanent solution. He didn't have a home – he wouldn't for a long time – but he needed a house or something similar. There were options.

Rachel Berry, after some very extensive talks with Finn and Kurt, had not only come to accept Dave as a member of their clique but also offered to rearrange her house's feng shui to accommodate Dave. It could be interesting, seeing the life of a family that completely accepted and even revered the homosexual lifestyle. Dave wasn't sure if he was ready to be surrounded by that level of energy.

Finn lamented that he would help if he could but there were too many awkward issues that would arise if Dave moved in. Puck, on thin ice with his mother already, was just as remorseful.

"Get a job then, you lazy bum."

Dave blinked and realized that Kurt was actually smiling.

"What?"

Kurt held out a folded up section of the Lima News. It was the classifieds.

"Get a job, get an apartment and start anew. It'll be . . . emancipated chic."

"Kurt, emancipated implies that I was okay with leaving the only home I've ever had."

Kurt shook his head, "Don't ruin what I'm trying to make the best of!"

Dave sighed, "Fine but one last question – who would hire me?"

He noticed that all the ads circled were for really cheap apartments. Kurt hadn't even scoured the job section.

"Well, I actually had a different idea about that. My father's shop could always use more help and . . ."

"And you figured the big, sweaty jock is a grease monkey?"

Kurt blushed a bit and Karofsky laughed to mask the fact that he was preserving the image in his head for all time.

"In all honesty, it was a guess based on the way you treat that car you own."

Dave nodded, "he doesn't hate me for how I was with you before?"

Kurt started pulling at non-existent threads on his sweater.

"I never told him."

"Why not?"

Kurt gave him a look that said 'well isn't obvious?' and shrugged.

"He's so overprotective, he wouldn't let me near you if he knew. He once kicked out Finn for using the word 'faggy' to describe a lamp."

Dave was sure he lost all feeling in his extremities and his face went pale.

"He's gonna hate me."

Kurt shook his head, "No, no no. He'll be surprised you've made such a turn around. Really, he'll be good about it . . . I mean, it's not like even needs to know about how you used to be."

Puck sat down with enough on his school tray for the entire table.

"Who doesn't need to know what?"

Karofsky grabbed a bag of Bugles, his comfort food of choice, "Kurt's father doesn't need to know about the shit I used to pull so he can hire me under false pretenses."

Puck swallowed his gulp of Gatorade, "Dude, if you need money, I can squeeze a few bucks out of my reserve."

Kurt reached over, rummaging through the pile before grabbing a cup of mixed fruit, "He needs a steady income – enough for an apartment."

Puck nodded in comprehension before downing a few more bites of the brownie in his hand.

"Well then I'll go with and ask for a job too or something, make Davey look good in comparison."

Kurt rolled his eyes and Dave grabbed a bottle of water to wash down his chips.

"Why are we assuming the worst of my father?"

"Why haven't you told him you're counseling your former bully?"

Kurt dug his fingers into the cup and pulled out a grape to throw at Dave. He dodged it and Puck, amused, caught it in his mouth just in time. They all laughed.

"You know what? Let's do it. What's the worst that could happen?"

Kurt clapped enthusiastically, "Perfect!"

It wasn't perfect. It was put off. Two days in a row. Burt ran into some problems at the shop and no one wanted to add any trouble to his plate just yet. Finally, Dave decided to search for an apartment afterschool rather than wait for Kurt to call and delay him further.

A half-hour later, Dave Karofsky was home. At least, in spirit. One of only two places that didn't turn him away immediately, this one had a reasonable rent and pretty primo location. He was looking out the window, smiling, when his phone went off.

"Hey-o."

"Found anything nice yet?"

Dave took a second look around, "Yeah, definitely."

Kurt seemed to smile through the phone, or maybe Dave just imagined it, "Oh well, anything worth coming down to my dad's shop for?"

Dave started gathering the paperwork he laid strewn across the kitchenette counter, "Dude, I'd personally crush ice for Sue Sylvester's protein shakes to pay for this place."

Driving pretty quickly, he was able to take a few minutes to breathe after he parked in front of the building. Walking in, he looked over the line of vehicles waiting for service before stopping at the office door. In the same second, Kurt opened the door and pulled him in.

"What the-?"

"I've warmed him up to the idea, we have a small window of opportunity," Kurt whispered as he flung, most literally, Dave into a chair.

"So, Karfosky, you're in the car fixing business?"

Dave swallowed, there had been few precious times he allowed himself to imagine meeting face to face with Burt Hummel. It never went like this.

"Yes, sir. I'm pretty good on general maintenance. I'm pretty quick to learn and um, well, I have a lot to put into this."

Mr. Hummel smiled, "Kurt's talked with me about what happened. I'm so sorry-"

There was a pounding on the office's door to the street.

"Open up, Hummel. I see Dave's car out front; what's he doing here?"

Burt stood up, Kurt rushed to him, Dave looked down, and Paul Karofsky came rushing in the door once he realized it was open.

"Paul, don't do this."

Mr. Karofsky fumed, huffing and puffing as he stared as his son's curled over back.

"You aren't allowed around here, David."

Burt got up in his face, wheezing a bit himself, "You have no right to throw him out of here. This is not your home."

Paul sneered back, "You want two gay sons then you can have him. I won't ever come back here again."

"Good," Burt shouted, "Because if you come near either one of them, I will kick your ass myself."

Paul Karofsky clenched his jaw and overturned the empty chair nearby as he walked out of the office.

With the slam of the wood against its jamb, Kurt lunged on his father, taking his pulse and assessing him for signs of distress.

"Kurt, I'm fine, I just, stop. I got fired up."

"I'm sorry."

Both of them looked at Dave, still slumped over in his seat. His hands were clenched together, not in violence building anger but a worried sort of panic.

"It's not your fault, Dave."

The teen shook his head, "I shouldn't have involved you guys in this, now you've got my dad angry at you and it's all just . . . fucked."

Burt walked over and put a hand on Dave's shoulder, "You've got nothing to worry about. You've got the job."

Dave laughed, "That's -. Sir, that's beyond kind. I mean, thank you."

"Now, you've got to show me that apartment," Kurt quipped.

Dave looked down at the crumpled papers in his lap. For a second he wondered why he didn't leave them in the car before he remembered.

"Speaking of, uh, do you know of anyone willing to co-sign a lease with me? The apartment's sweet but I lack collateral."

Burt laughed, "Now that's where I draw the line, Dave."

Kurt took the papers from him, "I'm sure we can figure something out. Dad, why don't you show him around the shop? Get him ready for work."

Burt led Dave out the door to the work area as Kurt whipped out his phone to start texting furiously.

At the end of the day, Dave was tired but glad for everything that happened. He didn't even regret the last interaction he'd probably ever have with his father. He pulled back up to the apartment building. He was pretty sure he knew what was going on but he liked the idea of blindly going with whatever they had planned.

"Welcome home, Dave Karofsky!"

The group was huddled together in the small living room. All the glee club, Mr. Schuester, Mr. Hummel, Ms. Hudson, and the two Mr. Berry's were waiting for him. His possessions – and a few extra items – were neatly stacked in the corner while they crowded around a small cake. Next to it was a familiar pile of papers.

"Hiram and I know you'd like to try and start over by yourself but we had to help at the first chance we could. We co-signed on the lease and paid the first and last month's rent."

Dave looked between Rachel and her father Leroy. He grinned and laughed in disbelief. He tried speaking but couldn't find the words.

"I brought over your stuff and a cot," Shue interjected, "and some of the other kids brought some of their clothes and what not – we know you probably need a lot and we rounded up as much as we could."

"I scrounged up some easy to make food – enough to last you until you get a microwave and a fridge."

Looking from Ms. Hudson back to the rest of them, Dave was more speechless than before.

"Thank you all. Just so much."

He didn't try to hold back the tears much longer and held on tightly when the group huddled up for a gigantic hug. It may have looked like the ending to an after school special but it meant the world to the young man. The one thing he knew he would want most is to earn everything that had just been given to him. And starting at that moment, he was going to try.


End file.
